STOP the War Talk– Republican Presidential Candidates must Remember the words of IKE and JFK.

” Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind”.

John F. Kennedy

Pay Any price for control is the mantra of the power elite in the Republican party. Since 9-11 we have spent 4 trillion dollars on endless wars to keep America safe. Really. My perspective is that having an “endless war ” strategy has led to enormous power and wealth for the “Military Industrial Complex”. The “Military and Industrial Complex” according to warnings by IKE back in 1961, will become the greatest threat for undermining two cornerstones of Democracy:

President Eisenhower said in his farewell speech of 1961 some the following which holds true today than ever before:

” A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. Since 9/11 we recognize the imperative and need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very success of the experiment of our democracy.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and resources will persist until we realize that we can’t be the policemen for the world. We must stop being involved in other countries civil wars.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together”.